Wednesday, 7 December 2011

During school years, I didn't take well to being told what we could write about, or the reviews he just HAD to write, about books that didn't mean all that much in the first place... Although Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men remains a favourite from that era but that's the only one. It's with that thought in mind that I spent several years with no inclination to pick a pen or pencil up and start writing. But the last four years seemed to change everything.

I began to have words and phrases floating around in my head that didn't seem to anywhere apart from a blank page that just seemed to yearn for them. So that there started my passion to write. I spent the first 3 years focused upon poetry, the whole thought of writing a story seemed to haunt me. That was until this year. So much had happened over the years that there needed a way to release the thoughts or expressions that couldn't be done through speech and writing answered that calling.

I began finding structured idea's flowing in my mind that just needed to get out there. Ideas that were obviously too long and detailed to ever be poetry. Which then lead me to zoning in to the thoughts that flowed around such ideas, where then the hand took over and began writing them down. That then started the whole thing off properly.

From there I announce the birth of my first attempt at novel writing, which started in January of this year and remains to be completed but still conceals in my mind a firm foundation that seems to keep flowing even now when I work on my NaNo Novel.

I write with the memory of friends and family in mind. With their support they aid me onwards. I may not be the best, but at least I can hold my head high with pride at what I've achieved.

I write because I have a voice that wants to be heard, albeit from the pages it's written within. I write because there is a fire under my soles that keeps me going. ... That might not be the answer people expect, but that's my answer.

So - I open this to anyone out there reading this - Why do you write, tell me why you are a writer, what inspires you, what empowers you, what keeps you going through all else?

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Because that's what its like today just to get those words written down. Since the turn of December I've yet to write 1,000 words, where as compared to November, they were flying out almost at full speed. It seems now that it's December - the crash is on, the down time prevailing over the will to write, the muse seems to have gone on holiday without due care and consultation. How dare he leave me hanging like this when I need his aid!

It's not helping with the obvious build up of Christmas trade and increasing lack of space to write. I can't write over at my desk right now, which is what's irritating me more than anything. Why? I hear you asking... well there has occurred a leak in the ceiling which drips to where the chair sits, making this novice writer feel more like a damp squid out of water, one feeling I do not wish to feel. I'd rather be cosy and dry writing away, than sitting at the desk with water dripping down my back. Dare I sit elsewhere to write in the house then I need to put up with constant distraction and interruption namely from my beautiful border collie who has the most impeccable timing to approach you when your busy, the rest of the time she leaves you in peace.

At least you can see the will to write has not vanished, this post shows that, but that doesn't help with the novel which is so close to being finished it's ridiculous. How can such a yearning to write it evade one's grasp? I mean you'd think another 8,000 words wouldn't be that difficult to write after churning out 112,364 since November 1st. Yes it's a first draft - a bad first draft. But it's a start, where upon it will be looked at and edited, then looked at again and edited. It could take several edits to have it looking the way I want it to, I'm prepared for that, I'm willing to put the time in and sort it, but I want to finish the first draft first. 8,000 words at least until the main bulk of Timber Varden is finished, but then there's the additional 25,000 to consider for the secondary short story that I want to run with it, which I'm seriously reconsidering at this moment in time. I'm not so sure that I could right from the perspective of an animal despite seeing how it unfolds in my mind but I do believe that I should at least attempt to write it. Better to say I attempted and failed than to say I never tried in the first place.

So The motto here is : You never know how it will go if you only procrastinate over it, it's best to make a start then decide if it's working for you.

Well currently the word count sits at 111,999 - Once it reached 111,111 I didn't want to continue, I loved the number but made myself write more - this being on December 2nd. The 1st was a no write day, and the 3rd followed suit to the first, but at some point tonight I shall push on and make some further heads way with this book if it's the last thing I ever do!

Although, that may have to wait some as I have an on line class to lead, I suppose I could do some writing while that's going on but will need to make sure that my focus is on the chat and not the word document - how difficult that is going to be is of no underestimation.

Friday, 2 December 2011

Well... I've spent the last 24 hours reflecting back on the last 30 days, wondering where on earth they had run away too. Is it just me or does anyone else out there feel that since November has past us, there is a vacant gap left from the thrill?

I still have plenty to write and edit when the time comes but since NaNo ended the composure and impulse to write seemed to fade out with it. I will push myself tomorrow and at least get some more words written down to get this book's first draft finished.

Thursday, 1 December 2011

That's it folks it's all over the last golden ticket has been found... er purple bar has been added.The time is now 1:14am on the 1st of December... December can you believe it? Christmas is just around the corner and I'm still thinking about my book Timber Varden which still isn't finished however.... This has been my first year participating in NaNoWriMo - 30 days of literary abandonment, and I managed to hit the target of 50k and surpass that. It's currently sitting at 111,474 words long with one more main chapter and epilogue to write before tackling the secondary short that shall run with it.

As you can see this is what my graph looks like today. 30 days ago there wasn't a word, or a mark upon that graph. 5 days in and I reached that 50k target but kept on going as the story kept unfolding. 30 days along and there is still writing to be done, but at a more leisurely rate and certainly with passion.

I can't tell you how I feel now that it's done, a part of me wishes it was here for another month, but another part of me is relieved that I've survived such a feat. It has shown me that I can write the novel I've always wanted to write and then some. It's proven that I can write each and every day, no matter how much or how little it can be done. The average novel length is 80,000 words long - once the edits are done after the first draft is finished it could be more like that despite the high count now.

So what do I do now that NaNo is done? I do what I was born to do... and that is write, I will continue to finish Timber Varden and then proceed to Edit it, but I will give it some breathing space and return back to Awakening, my other novel that's become stranded in mid space along the way, straggling behind at 37ish thousand words. I will say that this is my first year ever attempting to write a novel and to have two starts is for me a great achievement. I have loved every moment that NaNo has offered me, the friends that I have since made, those fellow budding writers there to inspire and encourage - such an immense supportive group of people - there will never be anyone like them!

Yes I have friends who are just as supportive but when you need a writers critical eye for detail, you can only truly turn to a fellow writer for some advice, where as if turning to friends they may not be able to assist with what your needing some help with. All fair in love and war - well the pen leads this battle with his prose and might.

I'm not the best of writers - I don't intend to be, I write because I love it, I write because the passion is there and that my friends is what matters!

We are all Champions in the battle of writing, whether you have succeeded to write 50,000 words in 30 days or not you are a champion - nothing can take that from you. We are the warriors of the next generation and together we shall battle on!

About Me

Jennifer spent many years without daring to lift a pen, without writing a word that wasn't forced. That was however, until the year 2008 arrived. It dawned the starting of a new age, an age where love and passion for writing arrived. She spent that year and the following two, writing just over 250 poems. It was these that kick started her passion to take it further. When 2011 arrived, so too did the urge to expand her depth and level and her first novel was born. That novel is still on going. Others since then have birthed ideas, so dare I say – Watch this space.